American Hustle 2013
138 minutes After I read “The Ransom of Red Chief,” I read
all of O’Henry, because there ain’t nothin like a scam. Remember The Sting in 1973? In this film Christian
Bale plays a con man named Irving Rosenfeld.
He’s small time but he knows the business, although it’s hard to believe
anyone would bite on the finder fee scam he runs at the beginning of the film. He’s assisted by Sydney Prosser played by Amy
Adams showing a lot more skin than she did in a nun’s habit. They get conned (entrapped) by an FBI agent,
who offers them a way out if they help him fry some bigger fish. They don’t nail their primary target, but
they do entrap some Congressmen. It’s a
great cast, and it was all fun to watch, but the cons just weren’t believable.
.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues 2013
119 minutes It was
funny the first time and this sequel had its moments, but let’s hope there isn’t
an Anchorman III. It would be a waste of
Will Ferrell, not to mention Steve Carell.
.
The Big Country 1958
167 minutes It’s fun to go back
and watch someone like Gregory Peck in action. Throw in Carol Baker, Jean Simmons, Charlton
Heston and Burle Ives, and one starts to remember how real movie stars could
light up the screen. Peck plays James
McKay, a sea captain who heads west to marry, Carol Baker, the daughter of a
rancher, and start a new life. He rides
right into the middle of a water rights dispute. When he stays neutral, he’s assumed to be a wimp,
but that’s because no one involved in the dispute has enough common sense to
understand that a compromise would get everyone what they want. In the end lots of people are dead and McKay
gets Jean Simmons, a huge ranch and control of the water. And yes, the landscape is magnificent.
.
The Double Life of
Veronique 1991 97 minutes
For once I have to go with the Netflix summary: “Irene Jacob stars in a dual role as Polish
singer Weronika and French music teacher Veronique -- two women who share a
deeply haunting emotional bond, though neither is consciously aware of the
other's existence. Krzysztof Kieslowski directs this universally beloved,
enigmatic piece about identity and human connection, enhanced by an operatic
score from Zbigniew Preisner and rich visual cinematography from Slawomir
Idziak.” This is well worth seeing but
difficult to follow. I was glad I wasn’t
totally dependent on the subtitles for the French and Polish dialogs. All of the usual Kieslowski props and symbols
are there to enrich the viewers’ experience even when they aren’t aware of
them. Irene Jacob can really sing.
.
Edo Porn (Hokusai
manga) 1981 119 minutes Katsushika Hokusai (1760-May 10, 1849) was
one of Japan’s great painters and is perhaps especially famous for his
woodblock prints. Like virtually all
artists of his time he drew some pictures with sexual content, but the bulk of
his work and the work for which he is remembered are the scenes of Mount Fuji
and his record of everyday life. Don’t see this film. It must be the result of a competition to write
script possible. Instead take a look at
his work: www.katsushikahokusai.org/
.
Gypsy 1962
143 minutes Rosalind Russell
plays a driven stage mother who believes in Vaudeville and pushes her daughters
to perform. He fortunes decline as
Vaudeville succumbs to competition from films in the 1930s. When she mistakenly books her children’s act
into a Burlesque theater, her daughter Rose, played by a young Natalie Wood,
takes a walk on part and thus begins the career of Gypsy Rose Lee. All in all, watching this helped me
understand why they stopped making musicals.
There o.k., but they’re timeless and so we already have enough of them.
.
Inspector
Bellamy 2009 110 minutes
Director Claude Chabrol seems to be exploring the character of Gérard Depardieu, who plays Bellamy, a
renowned Paris policeman on vacation with his wife. There is a crime which he solves in his spare
time and he deals with a ne’er-do-well brother, but in essence it’s about Depardieu. I recommend the NYT review of the film:
.
Leap of Faith 1992
108 minutes Steve Martin plays
the Rev. Jonas Nightingale, a revivalist who travels with a circus tent, some
former carnival workers and some sophisticated electronics, which he uses to
bilk the generous believers who come to his shows. If you like Steve Martin, see this one. The cons and the miracles alone are worth the
price of admission, not to mention Debra Winger as his faithful and cynical
assistant. When a truck breaks down and
they get stuck for a few days in a small town, the miracles don’t turn out
quite the way Nightingale expects.
.
Looking for Richard
1996
111 minutes Al Pacino takes the
viewer behind the scenes as he works on a revival of Richard III for the New
York Stage. One thing you will learn is that
when it comes to acting, Al Pacino is the real thing.
Mandela: long Walk to
Freedom 2013 139 minutes
Clint Eastwood’s Invictus in
2009 was a great film and Morgan Freeman made a great Mandela. I can’t say this new film is better, but it
certainly does more to put Mandela’s total contribution into perspective. It takes us from his childhood to his
funeral. To me the most interesting
scenes were those showing Mandela working as a lawyer in courts where the only
other black people were prisoners, and where the capable and dignified Mandela
was likely to be addressed as “boy.” Idris
Elba’s Mandela is at least as strong as Freeman’s. Don’t miss this film.
.
Philomena 2013
95 minutes Floundering BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith
and aging Irishwoman Philomena Lee form an unlikely bond when they pair up to
find the son Philomena was forced to give up for adoption 50 years ago. This is an adaptation of a true story. I didn’t know Steve Coogan, so I watched some
of his other stuff. This was probably
the first time he tried something other than ridiculous comedy and he does it
very well. His high flying BBC newsman persona
is a worthy foil for Judy Dench’s unsophisticated Irish woman.
.
Romeo & Juliet 2013
118 minutes This looks a lot better
than Romeo and Juliet in Los Angeles in modern dress. The costumes are authentic to the period and
many of the scenes were shot in rooms I recognized from my art history travels
in Italy. The Capulet mansion is much
grander than the house one sees in Verona today, but why not?
No comments:
Post a Comment